On Sobriety (58-61)

What then ought a man to do who has been thought worthy of such great and such exceeding blessings, all united in his case? What ought he to do, except requite his benefactor with words, and hymns, and songs of praise? This is as it seems what is obscurely intimated to him in the words, "Blessed is the Lord God of Shem;" [*] since it it becomes him who has received the inheritance of God to bless and praise him, since this is the only requital that it is in his power to offer, and since he is utterly unable by any means whatever to do anything further.

This, then, is the prayer which Noah offers for Shem; let us now see what kind of prayer it is that he puts forth for Japhet. He says, "May God make Japhet broad, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be their servant."

The object of a man who thinks nothing beautiful but what is good is limited and contracted, for of all the innumerable guides which influence different men he is confined to one alone, namely, to the mind. But the object of a man who attributes good to three different kinds of things, dividing it as it has reference to the soul, and to the body, and to external things, is more extended, inasmuch as he cuts up the good into a number of small and dissimilar fragments;

on which account Noah very appropriately prays that breadth may be added to him, in order that he may be able to exercise the virtues of the soul, prudence, and temperance, and all the others, and likewise the vigorous health and acute perceptions of the body, strength and vigour, and the other qualities akin to them; and also the external advantages which contribute to wealth and glory, and to the enjoyment and use of necessary pleasures.